When we are excited for a new goal, opportunity, or dream that we want to reach, we are often very careful to plan everything out to make sure that it is perfect. Planning can be extremely important before taking action because it provides you with a way to stay committed and hold yourself accountable even on the days that you feel unmotivated or lazy.
Planning can provide a way to put your goals into action and stick to them, rather than just thinking of them as an idea that you never act upon. However, it is important to understand the concept of over-planning and the different ways that it can get in the way of you actually taking the necessary steps to get closer and closer to your goal each day.
Over-planning
Spending too much time on the planning process can be detrimental to your likelihood of success and accomplishment. When you try to plan out everything, you may end up feeling very inflexible and closed-minded because you will feel like you need to stick to this detailed plan.
However, it is important to understand that the outcomes from each step in your plan are uncertain and there will inevitably be obstacles or bumps in the road that you need to overcome. This uncertainty makes planning something that will need to be changed along the way as you perform different actions and go through the process.
Another important thing to understand is that planning too much can become a form of procrastination. This often happens when you feel incapable or fearful of stepping out and taking action.
It is important to be honest with yourself and identify times that you may be trying to avoid taking the first step towards your goal. Once you get started, everything will likely fall into place the way that you would like it to. Uncertainty can be scary and can make you feel hesitant, but it is important to step into doubt in order to boost your self-esteem and confidence.
How to Stop Planning Too Much
1. See planning as a road map
Rather than seeing planning as a step-by-step process that gets you to success, see it as a map full of potential. When you’re able to understand that your plan can have many different roads and detours, you will likely not be as obsessive over it.
2. Accept Unpredictability
It is important to embrace the fact that outcomes are uncertain and that things will come up that are unpredictable. When you are able to let go of your desire to have everything go the way it is supposed to, you were able to look at life from a fresh perspective and not feel expectations that come with disappointment.
3. Stay Flexible
One of the most important parts of achieving success and sticking to your goals without giving up is staying flexible and keeping an open mind. This means letting go of all expectations that you have for different outcomes of your step-by-step process and embracing the fact that things will happen that are out of your control.
4. Be Honest with Yourself
In order to stop over-planning, it is important to be honest with yourself about whether or not you’re planning is helping you or holding you back from taking action. This requires that you identify whether your planning is benefiting you or if it is a form of procrastination.
When you are able to analyze this, your instinct for strict planning will no longer be at the forefront of your mind and you will want to just get started. When your mind is right, everything else will fall into place.
Wondering what it means to “take action"? Read this article to find out more…
